In the video: The last residents are evacuated from Sderot/Yinir Yagana
Like the same spring that brings the tin soldier who bends over in the children's game back to his place again and again, so is Lior Raviv, CEO of the Yisrotel hotel chain. The legal revolution bends him, but he got back on his feet.
The war in Gaza knocked him to the floor, but he got up again with the speed of a boxer who snatched Snooker. As far as the network is concerned, the war these days is almost in its final stages and Raviv is very optimistic about the upcoming Passover.
"Passover is going to be very strong.
The demand is especially huge this year.
All northern hotels are not in the game.
Flights abroad cost a minimum of $1,000, and it just so happens that people are not afraid to fly. The hotels in Eilat remain one of the few places of refuge," says the chain's CEO Lior Raviv.
Did you take advantage of the holiday to raise prices at luxury hotels like Royal Beach?
"This year's prices will be like this accepted during the holidays.
The weekend for a couple costs a few thousand shekels and not like in some publications where it is 5,000 shekels or even double that.
We did not take advantage of the demand to collect pork prices."
The Isrotel network will publish the financial reports for the last quarter of 2023 and for the entire year at the end of March. The reports, as with most listed companies, will be affected by the war in Gaza.
At the height of the war, the network hosted 15,000 evacuees and also adopted some of the settlements. The evacuees also have at their disposal the luxury hotels such as Mitzpe Yamim (evacuees from Kfar Yuval), Berashit, Vineyards and the Carmel Forests.
During the war, the chain gave up spa services and reduced its workforce by 40%. Revenues in the first nine months of 2023 increased by 5% to - NIS 1.5 billion. The profit dropped by 5% to NIS 190 million. But there is no doubt that hosting the evacuees saved the hotels in the quarter of the war.
"At the end of the month the reports for 2023 will be published and they are going to be fine despite the quarter that was the quarter of the war," hints the CEO For the results but not beyond that.
The Carmel Forest.
The chain reduced its workforce by 40% during the war/Walla! system, no
There were
claims in the media that you forced evacuees to leave the luxury hotels in order to host official guests on better terms.
"There is no truth in the claims. We hosted 15,000 evacuees with the most difficult communities. Some of the evacuees fell in love with us and we received thousands of letters of thanks. Claims refer to a one-off event of Kiryat Shmona residents who we wanted to move from Royal Beach, Royal Garden and King Solomon for logistical reasons to another hotel in Eilat. It was important that every The evacuees will stay in one hotel.
"We did not force and said whoever wants to stay should stay.
We gave a package of benefits to those moving to Tel Aviv or the Laguna Hotel, including an incentive in the form of Shi tokens to support the local economy in Eilat. We all did the process in cooperation, but made unnecessary noise out of it. To the credit of the evacuees, it can be said that they treat the hotels as if it were their home."
I understand that the Ministry of Tourism rewards you in a fair way thanks in part to Minister of Tourism Haim Katz.
"The Minister of Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism did an amazing job for the evacuees and the hotels, an amazing job. Hotels are paid 740 NIS per night for a couple and for each additional child it is 200 NIS. What was for an individual amounts to 518 NIS for an individual. The state gave an additional extension to the stay until the end of the school year in July" .
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"We didn't force anyone to leave"/Ariel Bashor
Have you not managed in terms of the lack of manpower following the lack of Palestinian workers?
"Indeed, 400 Palestinians who worked for us have dropped out of the workforce. We are waiting for other foreign workers to come in to replace them. Despite the war, Jordanian workers continue to come to work as usual. There is a severe shortage of Israeli workers.
"What can we do if Israelis don't want to wash dishes, don't like to clean rooms and toilets want to get into the pots.
Let them work in high-tech."
Last month you announced the expansion of hotel operations to Greece. How is the project progressing?
"The project is only taking its first steps and I expect it to be amazing.
One hotel in Athens has already started operating and two others are undergoing renovations.
We have two more hotels in Rome and I foresee the further expansion of the activity abroad."
More on the same topic:
Yisrotel
evacuees
War of Iron Swords
Gaza war